Suzuki’s first day in Portugal was sure to be better than what Joan Mir and Alex Rins had seen last November at the last GP of the season. On that occasion, the Portimao track had offered the audience a GSX-RR with a few too many problems, with Mir only finishing sixth while Rins had to settle for seventeenth fastest time. After that Friday, Suzuki’s weekend got even more complicated, especially that of Me, who today has a smile on his face thanks to his third place and the sensations he experienced on the bike.
“Today everything was easier thanks to my good pace in FP1 – said the world champion – I tried to ride well with all mixes and then drove a good fast lap with the soft ones. I had an engine problem here in Portimao last year but the sensations were definitely good and I was sure that the Suzuki could drive fast and today I proved it. “
Me: “Marquez has achieved 100% and can push”
Marc Marquez got back on track today and immediately showed that he can be part of the game. Are you other pilots a little shocked by this show of force? Does this make you feel a little less secure?
“Marquez’s performance didn’t surprise me, we know the Honda works well here and they’re all fast. And the potential that Marc has, that he has achieved 100% and can push. He clearly knows how to ride a MotoGP bike and it’s normal for him to go that fast. I’m not surprised, because of everything he has done, I only expect him to be at this level. What the others do is their problem, I try to give the maximum and go home satisfied. “
For an opponent returning to the track, there is a crew chief, Frankie Carchedi, who remains isolated with Covid. Carchedi is one of the main actors behind Mir’s world championship title in 2020, what does the Spaniard lose without his right hand?
“I’m actually happy with the situation, everything is more difficult with Frankie at home, but we are coping well with it. Follow me this week Tom O’Kane, who doesn’t want to show off too much, he just wants to work and that’s a good thing. Anyway, Frankie is in the shadows, we talk a lot and he is in an isolated room and so he actually works the same way as he does on the track, maybe even more because he is in constant contact with Tom and Claudio Rainato, my electronics engineer. It’s a shame that he caught Covid because he always does everything very carefully, which reminds us how unpredictable this virus is ”.
What is the goal for tomorrow’s qualifying?
“Today the track was in a worse condition than last year, there was little grip, but we still managed to make a big leap forward with the new tires, almost a second, and we don’t do that often. I hope that tomorrow we can find more grip on the track and see how much I can improve. “
Rins: “Now I understand what my problems were in Portimao last year”
On the other side of the Suzuki garage, Alex Rins is enjoying fourth place at the end of Friday, despite finishing seventeenth last year. Today the Spaniard managed to work properly on the Suzuki, but what has changed compared to four months ago?
“The bike is exactly the same as it was in 2020. Last year I didn’t understand the reason for my difficulties in Portimao, but today everything was clearer: I didn’t have enough strength. This is a physically demanding stretch and my shoulder was not in great shape due to the injury earlier in the year and all the fatigue that has built up during the season. Now I’m in better shape, I’ve gained more muscle mass and most importantly, I don’t have the bone edema that I had last season. Here in Portimao, I couldn’t do more than three laps at the same pace in 2020.
What was the day’s work like? What did you focus on at Suzuki?
“Today was a good day. In the morning the track conditions were very complicated, but I still wanted to look for the limit and finished second. In FP2 the original plan was to compare the middle rear tire with the hard one, but then I realized that the Grip is not enough and I stayed with the medium until the time attack. This morning we saw that the track may not dry off in time if it rains at night, so it’s good to be in Q2 already.
Physical conditions are very important in MotoGP, which race in Qatar was the most stressful for you?
“I was absolutely more tired after race 1 because I had to push to close the gap to the leaders. In race 2, however, I was already in the group and it was easier to keep the pace, especially in the fast corners. “